Method of making shoes



1. FAUSSE.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3| I918.

1,328,322, Patented Jai1.20,1920.

TED sATEs ATEN'I onnIoE- JOSEPH FAUSSE, OF BROCKTOM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Application filed August 3,

7 To all whom it may concern:

above mentioned. Uppers Be it known that I, JOSEPH FAUssE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to methods of making shoes, particularly stitchdown shoes of the type in which the upper is turned outwardly and secured to the sole at one or both ends of the shoe.

It has been the practice heretofore to cut the uppers of stitchdown shoes from patterns similar to those used for shoes in which the upper margin is turned inwardly. In such patterns the curves of the edges of the upper which are joined, for example, by the back seam correspond substantially to the vertical curve of the rear end of the last and the curve of these edges is extended to in clude the parts of the upper which form the projecting margin and which in lasting are turned inwardly in some shoes and outwardly in stitchdown shoes of the type thus out are well adapted to be bent inwardly into enga ement with a heel seat having already, y reason of the curvature of the back seam, a set in the inward direction, but when such uppers are to be turned outwardly at the heel end difliculty is experienced in getting the projecting margin to turn outwardly without curling or breaking at the edge, which edge, when the margin is turned outwardly, must be greatly stretched in order to assume the increased periphery of the outturned flange. The margin of the upper is sometimes slit or notched to allow it to lie against the outwardly projecting margin of the heel stiffener and sole but when this is done small recesses appear in the edge of the shoe between the stiifener and the welt which overlies the outwardly bent upper. These recesses, of course, detract from the appearance of the shoe.

An object of this invention is to provide a Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 31 ,20, 1920,

1918. Serial No. 248,128.

method of preparing uppers for stitchdown work, the margins of which will readily assume the outwardly bent position without undue strain upon the outer edge and the margins of which will lie flatly against the other outwardly directed shoe parts without curling and without the necessity of their being notched or slit.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of attaching uppers thus prepared to molded counters having outturned flanges so as greatly to facilitate the operations of assembling and last- 1ng.

By my method of preparing the uppers, the two parts of a vamp or foxing which are to be united are cut as usual with a curve so designed that when these parts are united the upper will conform to and hug closely the end of the last or counter. 'The portions of the meeting edges which are to constitute the extending margin or flange, however,

are flared outwardly so that when these flaring edges are united, the margin of the upper will flare outwardly and the upper will have a fairly definite angle between the portion covering the end of the last and the marginal portion of the upper. This angle will readily enter and conform to the angle between the side of the last and the outweirdly directed marginal portion of the so e.

By way of illustration, though not by way of limitation, the invention will be described with particular reference to its application to the manufacture of shoes'having I uppers with outturned heel portions.

In one aspect the invention consists in fitting an upper to the crease of a molded heel stiflener having an outturned flange and then stitching the stiffener and upper together.

In this use of the invention, upper and a previously molded counter are assembled, the back seam of the upper being l'ocated centrally of the rear end of the counter by causing the back seam to coincide with a notch or mark on the counter flange. The upper is then drawn forwardly to cause the upper to enter the angle between the side of the counter and the outthe prepared I wardly extending flange, and is then secured in turn to each wing end of the counter or stiffener. This fastening may be done, particularly in an unlined shoe, which consequently' has no counter pocket, by attaching the counter to the upper by a line of fastenings, for example, stitches, running from one counter wing along the upper curved edge of the counter to the other counter wing. In carrying out this operation, the upper is drawn into proper relation with one counter wing and the upper and counter-are sewed together by a seam running along the curved upper edge of the counter to the back seam of the upper. The upper is then drawn into proper relation to the other counter wing and the sewing operation continued to that wing of the counter. The upper and counter thus prepared are assembled upon a last having a sole attached thereto with its margin projecting beyond the bottom of the last. The molded counter will hug the rear end of the last and the upper, since it is at-- tached to the counter, will be located in proper assembled relation to the last and will be held there by the counter without further securing means. The flange of the upper and counter may now be attached to theprojecting margin of the sole by the well known staple lasting operation or otherwise. The upper, by reason of its proper initial shape and the fact that it has already been drawn into the angle between the side and flange of the molded stiffener or counter, is very readily forced into lasting position and secured with its margin forming a continuous flange overlying the flange of the counter- In the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a shoe upper cut in'a ccordance with my method;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the rear endrof the upper after the back seaming operation has been performed upon it;

Fig. 3 is a side view, partly in section, of an upper and counter attached to each other in accordance with my method;

Fig. l is a side View, partly in section, of an upper and counter prepared according to my method and assembled on a last having a sole attached'thereto; and

Fig. .5 shows the shoe made by my method after, the heel portion has been lasted.

' Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 represents a shoe upper cut in accordance with my method prior to the uniting of the portions A and B by the back seaming operation. The rear edges of the portions A and B have each a curved portion C and a portion D which nay be. relatively straight and extend at, a substantial angle outwardly of the edge portion. C. The edges. C and D are next unitedthroughout their extent by the back seaming operation, any well known form f: seaml eing emr s y s pe o an upper is produced having a rear portion of the form shown in Fig. 2 which will conform to the shape of the heel stiffener and last throughout the Vertical extent of the last and which has an outwardly flaring marginal. portion providing fullness or excess length of the periphery of the flange to adapt it to lie against the outwardly turned flange of the heel stiffener or counter. Such a prepared stifl'ener E is next placed in the upper and the upper and stiffener are properly located by placing the back seam in coincidence with the center of the rear portion of the stiffener flange, the flange being preferably provided with a mark to facilitate this operation Having thus positioned the upper and stiffener, the sewing machine operator draws the upper forwardly toward the wings of the stiffener, causing the upper to be drawn into the angle between the side and flange of the stiffener. The operator then starts sewing one wing end of the stiffener to the upper and runs a seam F along the upper curved margin G of the stiflener toward the back seam of the upper in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. When the back seam is reached the upper is preferably again drawn toward the other wing of the stiffener and the seam is continued, ending at the other stiffener wing. The upper and stiffener are next assembled upon a last H having a sole or insole K attached to its bottom with the margin of the sole extending beyond the bottom of the last (Fig. 4:). By reason of the fact that the molded counter will hug the molded upper closely at the rear end of the last, no further securing of parts is necessary and the shoe is ready for the lasting operation which may be effected in any well known manner, for example, by a stitch-down staple lasting machine such as that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial N 0. 44,915, filed August 11, 1915, by Matthias Brock. In this lasting operation, the upper and counter are forced closely into the angle between the sides of the last and the projecting margin of the sole and are secured by staple fastenings. By reason of the fact that the upper, byprevious steps of this method, has been so well shaped to enter the angle, very little skill or effort is required of the lasting ma chine operator and only a few fastenings are required to hold the upper in lasted position. The lasting operation may thus be eflected much more cheaply and expeditiouslythan heretofore. Furthermore, since the upper flange will lie flatly against the flange of the counter without being slit or notched, the upper. presents a continuous edge running about the heel portion as well as other portions of the shoe.

It will, of course, be apparent that in its broader aspects the invention is applicable to the preparation of an upper at the toe to the crease of a heel stiffener having anend in case the upper at that end has a seam as is the case in certain types of shoes, for example, sporting shoes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of making stitchdown shoes which consists in cutting an upper with fullness at the rear lower corners of the vamp, backseaming said upper to produce excess length at the lower edge thereof around the heel, centering the backseam on a molded heel stiffener having an outturned flange, drawing the upper snug in the crease between the flange and body of the stiflener, and sewing the stiflener along its upper edge to the upper.

2. That improvement in methods of making stitchdown shoes which consists in cutting an upper with fullness at the rear lower corners of the vamp, backseaming said upper to produce excess length at the lower edge thereof around the heel, centering the backseam on a molded heel stiffener having an outturned flange, drawing the upper snug in the crease between the flange and body of the stiffener, and securing the stiffener in place upon the upper.

8. That improvement in methods of making stitchdown shoes which consists in fitting an upper to the crease of a molded heel stiffener having an outturned flange and stitching the stiflener and the upper together before the sole is applied.

4i. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in fitting an upper outturned flange and then stitching the stiffener along its upper edge to the upper.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in centering an upper at the back seam relatively to the rear end of a stiffener having an outwardly molded flange, then fitting the upper along the crease of the stiffener and stitching the upper edge of the stiffener to the upper.

6. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in centering an upper at the back seam relatively to the rear end of a stiffener having an outwardly molded flange, then drawing the upper snug to the counter and fastening the upper and counter only together at the counter wings.

7. That improvement in methods of makin shoes which consists in centering an upper at the backseam relatively to the lower rounded edge of the back of a molded heel stiffener having an outturned flange and a crease between the flange and stifl'ener body, drawing the upper to the stifl'fener along said crease substantially to one stiffener end and fastening it, and then drawing the upper to the stiffener along said crease substantially to the other end and fastening it.

8. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in centering an upper at the backseam relatively to the lower rounded edge of the back of a molded heel stiffener, drawing the upper snug to the stifl'ener along said edge to one stifl'ener wing and fastening it, and drawing the upper snug to the stiffener along said edge to the other stiffener wing and fastening it.

9. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in centering a heel stifl'ener and an upper at the backseam of the upper and while maintaining the parts in that position straightening the upper over the stiffener to one wing end of the stiffener and fastening the upper to that wing end, and thereafter similarly straightening the upper to the other Wing end and fastening the upper to that wing end.

10. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in cutting parts of an upper which are to be united by a seam with curved edges at those portions which are to lie against an end ofthe last and with relatively straight flaring edges at those portions which are to lie over a projecting margin of the sole, uniting the edges by a seam, conforming the upper along the line between the curved portion and the straight portion to the angle between the last and the projecting margin of the sole, and securing the upper and sole together.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSEPH FAUSSE. 

